What's In a Name?
by Pirate College Graduate
Summary: Lisa Dawes is thrilled to learn she has won an internship at Wayne Enterprises. But the longer she remains there, the more she becomes involved with Gotham's finest: The Joker, and the Bat himself. Set during and briefly after TDK.


This is more of the introductory chapter to the rest, so there won't be a lot of TDK characters introduced in this chapter, but bear with me, because they're on their way. I've tried to make Lisa a non-mary-sue, but please warn me if she becomes too much. Of course I'm adding her into the TDK plot, but beyond that I'll try to make her as interesting as need be. Plus, she's been through a lot, so cut her a little slack. ;) On that note, enjoy this chapter, and I'll try to post more as soon as I can.

What's in a Name?

Date: August 5, 2008

Time: 8:03 AM

Subject: Lisa Dawes

Age: 18

Ms. Dawes has come to headquarters to give her statement about the events that took place during her internship at Wayne Enterprises, her encounters with the masked vigilante Batman, and her time experiences with the clown terrorist who calls himself the Joker. Ms. Dawes has just entered the room with a large mug of what appears to be coffee, and a pack of pens. Ms. Dawes wears a blank expression as she sits down, cleans off her glasses and tugs her mouse-brown hair into a ponytail. She opens the journal slowly, heaves a heavy sigh, and puts the pen to page.

Statement One, AKA How it all Began:

I don't know how they can be so nonchalant about this. I really don't. Just calling my house, nonchalantly asking if I can come in and tell them all that happened. As if they hadn't already heard. Some of them probably witnessed the same horrors I did. Though I must admit, I thank them for waiting at least a month before calling. I don't think I've functioned properly once since the night of the ferry incident. Coming here to give this statement is almost too much, as if I'm doing this too quickly. But the cops have been understanding, and have given me a week to come in and write this all down. Too much written in one day and I might have relapsed.

If I'm being honest here, as they've asked me to be, I'd say the only reason I agreed to this is because of my respect and adoration for Commissioner Gordon. He's one of the finest cops I've ever encountered, and over the course of my ordeal I encountered a lot of cops. I owe you a lot, Commissioner. And if I'm being brutally honest, I'd say I'm definitely doing this out of love and respect for Batman. Without his aid, I may not be here to give this statement. Batman, I owe you my life.

I've been told by Commissioner Gordon that this will be held in the strictest of confidence, only to be read by him and his fellow trustworthy officers, and I believe he deserves to know the truth. Maybe someday, everyone will know the truth. And the whole truth is what I'll be giving, including Batman's true identity. Just sit tight.

I also hope this journal serves as a sort of tribute to the memories of those lost in mind and in body, no matter which side they claimed to take. Harvey Dent, Rachel Dawes, Commissioner Loeb, Judge Surrillo, Ramirez, Batman, Bruce Wayne... They all played a role in my month at Wayne Enterprises, and no matter how directly or indirectly their role was, they will be mentioned here.

I must confess before I really begin, that after this whole experience I'm...well, not happy, but I am better. It'll still take some time for me to feel like the normal teenager I was before I met Bruce Wayne, but I'm getting there. I'll be heading off to college soon. No doubt people who've heard about me in the news will be pressing me for details. But I think that by that time, I'll be ready.

I think I'll be ready to reclaim my last name for my own.

So here I go. Deep breath. In...out...in again. I know exactly where I'll start. I'll start at the beginning, like every story does, when my world was simple, and the evils of humanity were beyond my comprehension:

I'll start in April, when my senior year was wrapping up. Everyone else was planning their summer vacations to Cabo, Hawaii, Europe, and other expensive, exotic places. I seemed to be the only person who wasn't leaving Gotham for my last summer break before heading off to GCU. Instead, I was searching for any sort of internship available for the summer, in an attempt to follow in the footsteps of my parents. My mother works at Gotham's bank( if you're asking if she was a victim of the bank robbery, I'll simply answer yes now and elaborate later) and my father is a Business Principles professor at GCU. I hoped to someday hold a career in business, and I still do now. Yes, an internship would be the _perfect_ opportunity to experience the "real world".

I'd been in Mrs. Shruber's guidance office a million times (okay, about ten), in hopes that something would come through. As of mid-April, no company had bit my bait. But I would not give up hope. So that afternoon, after getting my lunch of pizza and fries, if I recall, I headed to Mrs. Shruber's office, tray in tow. As always, she was tangled up in a phone call with either her EMT husband Bill, or Sandy, her Mary Kay associate. Technically she wasn't supposed to be make those kinds of calls during school, but if she didn't bust me for eating lunch outside of school (a federal offense at North Gotham High), I wouldn't bust her for making make-up calls.

"So does that come in a coral shade?" she asked, twirling the phone cord. Yep. Definitely a Mary Kay call. I sat down and waiting patiently, munching on my fries and taking an occasional sip of milk, my hopes for an internship still alive. Maybe today would be the day that something finally came in.

Mrs. Shruber eventually hung up, having purchased two coral shades of lipstick and a set of lotions. Her lips slowly curled into a smile, and immediately I knew an opportunity had come through.

"So," she started," something came through." I sat on edge of my seat, ears perked. Her grin grew wider as she spoke the words that would forever change me:

"Wayne Enterprises is offering a summer internship, and of course, I thought of you."

As if on command, I jumped from my chair, nearly knocking my tray off the desk. Being a Gotham resident, born and raised, I understood the significance of an opportunity like this. Wayne Enterprises is one of the top corporations in the world, and I would (hopefully) be able to work there? As corny as it sounds, it really did feel as if Christmas had come early.

Mrs. Shruber let out a pleasant laugh and waited until I calmed down. I finally took one final leap into the ear before settling back down into my chair, my breathing extremely heavy. She handed me the internship application sheet, the Wayne Enterprises logo blazing across the top. My excitement reached its peak as I read through it, gathering all the details. According to the information there would be one winner and two runner-ups. The winner would acquire the internship and the $1,000 in scholarship money, and the runner-ups would each acquire $500. The requirements to be considered included a 3.8 GPA, a major or minor in business, and a minimum age of 18. Check, check, and check. It was as if it was my _fate_ to be Bruce Wayne's intern.

Mrs. Shruber snapped her fingers, knocking me out of my train of thought. I blinked, regaining focus. "Sorry about that," I muttered. "You know how I get."

She nodded sagely. "Indeed I do. Anyway, the application is due May 1st. That's less than three weeks away, but I'm sure you can get it to me by then."

I smiled confidently, gripping the sheet in my hands. "I can get it to you in two."

And I did, completely confident that I'd found the right teachers to write up student recommendations, revised my essay enough times for perfection, and checked my transcript for any imperfections. After a month of waiting I finally got the word that I had won, and on June 1st, would be moving into Wayne Towers for the summer. I was high off of life, baby.

Oh, how ignorance is bliss!


End file.
